A panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, in a unanimous decision, struck down Arizona’s Prop. 200 (2004) proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration and a similar provision of Kansas law in Kobach v. U.S. Election Assistance Commission (Nos. 14-3062 and 14-3072). Specifically, this case concerns whether Arizona and Kansas have to accept the federal National Voter Registration Form without additional proof of citizenship. The Arizona Voter Registration Form proof-of-citizenship requirement has previously been upheld by the Courts.

[UPDATE: The Federal Voter Registration Form requires the voter to swear/affirm that they are a U.S. citizen and that they meet the eligibility requirements of their state “under penalty of perjury. If I have provided false information, I may be fined, imprisoned or (if not a U.S. citizen) deported from or refused entry to the United States.”]

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision and restore a state law he wrote requiring proof-of-citizenship documents to register to vote.

Kobach wants the Supreme Court to undo the November decision by the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeal, in a case pitting Kansas and Arizona against the federal Election Assistance Commission and a bevy of voting rights groups.

This case was docketed at the U.S. Supreme Court on March 24. Docket for 14-1164. (h/t SCOTUSblog).

This appeal has attracted amicus briefs from all of the usual suspect anti-immigrant haters:

Issue: (1) Whether Article I, Section 2 and the Seventeenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution require the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to defer to the states’ determination that provision of documentary evidence of citizenship is necessary to enforce the states’ voter qualifications; and (2) whether Article I, Section 2 and the Seventeenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution permit a dual voter rolls system in which some voters who are qualified to vote for federal office holders are not also qualified to vote for those “in the most numerous branch of the state legislature.”

This case originally was the baby of Secretary of State Ken “Birther” Bennett and his nativist buddy from Kansas, Secretary of State Kris Kobach. These tools instituted a “dual election system” in Arizona and Kansas last year that pissed away a lot of taxpayer money, and that denied a small number of voters who registered to vote using the federal voter registration form their constitutional right to vote in statewide, legislative, and local offices.

One would think that the Arizona political media would follow up with Secretary of State Michele Reagan, Attorney General Mark Brnovich, and Governor Doug Ducey and report on what their positions are in this appeal. Why is this not a story?

And I would strongly urge the voting rights organizations that filed amicus briefs in Kansas and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to do so again in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Blue Meanie is an Arizona citizen who wishes, for professional reasons, to remain anonymous when blogging about politics. Armed with a deep knowledge of the law, politics and public policy, as well as pen filled with all the colors stolen from Pepperland, the Blue Meanie’s mission is to pursue and prosecute the hypocrites, liars, and fools of politics and the media – which, in practical terms, is nearly all of them. Don’t even try to unmask him or he’ll seal you in a music-proof bubble and rendition you to Pepperland for a good face-stomping.
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3 COMMENTS

AZ’s current AG and SoS filed with the appeal with KS officials. They prefer to see less people voting by making it unnecessarily hard to register. Arizona Advocacy Network and the original plaintiffs have been co-defendants with the EAC since the politicians filed this challenge in 2013 with a conservative KS federal judge. Progressive legal groups are weighing in. Glad to see your coverage on this important case.

Arizona Advocacy Network organized plaintiffs in 2006 to successfully challenge the barrier to register to vote using the Federal VR Form in June 2013. PLEASE edit your blog to read that PROOF of citizenship is ALREADY required to register to vote using the federal form, it simply requires LESS PAPERWORK. Eligible citizens must sign under oath and face over a year in federal prison if found they registered illegally. Then voters are matched in state and national databases before becoming an active voter. Voter registration fraud can occur even when additional paperwork is required, as on the AZ form, and demonstrated in the case of the elderly Mohave County Republican who fraudulently registered and VOTED in AZ following all the rules in Prop 200 and then again in her “home”state. Let’s dig deeper on this issue. Citizens must provide more evidence of eligibility to vote than donors, for whom there is no verification process. There is suspected widespread donor fraud and money laundering in our elections and politicians waive it off as unimportant because they thrive on that money. Arizona Advocacy Network supports requiring voters and donors to provide the same paperwork and information to participate in our elections. How many millionaires and billionaires are going to send in a copy of their birth certificate, passport, naturalization document or tribal ID in order to buy a candidate with their campaign cash? We could also require donors of privately funded candidates to meet the same standards as $5 donors to Clean Elections candidates. Whichever direction we go, 82% of likely 2016. Check out our poll at AZadvocacy.org. Arizona voters support making donors meet the same standards as voters. American Democracy is, after all, suppose to be about #VotersNotDonors.